October 31, 2013

My RW Mom just told me Michelle Obama wants to take away all the kid's Halloween candy...

"Gotta go Mom. Happy Halloween. Love you, Bye."
Click.
I am the master of "this conversation is now over." when she drags it into Crazyland.

RW radio and Fox News has completely ruined her.
She used to be a guitar playing, Pete Seeger folk song singing, union-organizing, elementary school teacher for 35 years but after retirement turned to the radio and Fox which was getting going just as she retired.
Sigh.
I love her but thank God she lives 3000 miles away on the east coast.

October 31, 2013

A Halloween haiku

Halloween is here.
Mom says it is cold tonight.
Sweater with costume.

October 30, 2013

"I understand a Presidential visit isn't the biggest thing happening in Boston today" -POTUS...

in his opening remarks about ACA in Boston today.
The man knows how to deliver a joke.

October 28, 2013

Tweety's got his lips pressed up against Chris Christie's ass....

October 25, 2013

The shame of secret political donors

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-donors-20131025,0,4792238.story#axzz2ilW9MaEx
"Thanks to the tenacity of the Fair Political Practices Commission, the names are now dribbling out of the campaign donors who hid behind layers of illegal secrecy to conceal their support for an anti-union measure and a desperately needed tax increase on last year's California ballot.

As one might expect, it's a disgraceful roster of billionaires intent of pulling up the ladder of advancement behind them. Charles Schwab. Eli Broad. B. Wayne Hughes (founder of Pubic Storage). The owners of The Gap. Sheldon Adelson of the Las Vegas Sands.
...
Are you having trouble following this? That's exactly what the donors hoped. In any case, SBAC used the donation to fight Gov. Brown's ultimately successful tax increase ballot initiative and to support Proposition 32. Prop 32, which failed, aimed to drive unions out of politics, leaving the field free for people like, well, Sheldon Adelson, Charles Schwab, and B. Wayne Hughes.

Shortly after announcing its settlement with CPPR and ARL (including the payment of $1 million in fines), the FPPC lowered the boom on the SBAC, informing it that the law now requires that it fork over the $11 million it received through this daisy chain.
...
More at link about busting the secret money trail used to turn an election.
Great reporting

October 24, 2013

Anybody watching the World Series of Poker this year?

I'm all in.
Poker is a great TV sport.
Shuffle up and deal....

October 22, 2013

Hey FDR was not even FDR. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins was the real FDR.

The female 1st Cabinet Secretary in US history she was appointed only 12 years after women got the right to vote in the US and as soon as a Democrat became President.
FDR campaigned on cutting government spending by 25% because he thought the depression was a cyclical thing we would come out of naturally and soon.
Then all the banks failed the week before he took the oath of office and FDR realized he needed real answers from people who would tell him the truth.
That's how he got Frances in his cabinet.
So Frances Perkins became one of his closest advisers and working behind the scenes with a number of other secretly influential women in the White House started making him the President we remember now.
Perkins created the 40 hour work week, federal minimum wage, child labor laws and Social Security then practically forced FDR to implement them.
She made him the liberal, tough President we recall so lovingly now and made him ready to lead the US through WWII.
She was the one who made him the man we know just like a coming of age film.
So when you think of FDR as your liberal God you must also think of Frances Perkins.
Because it's not the President that actually does things, it's the people he hires that do it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Perkins

October 17, 2013

Why Airline Crews Skip The Coffee And Tea On Board

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoglia/2013/10/15/why-airline-crews-skip-the-coffee-and-tea-on-board/

With all that free coffee and tea available to pilots and flight attendants, have you ever wondered why so many crewmembers can be seen boarding flights with their own cups of java? Well, the dirty little secret of flying is that the water used to make the coffee and tea is, well, dirty. A recent NBC investigative report confirms what airline employees have known for years. Think twice about drinking the water – unless you see it served from a bottle, preferably one you open yourself.

The NBC report obtained documents from the EPA which confirm that years after the EPA began a program to clean up airplane water, the problem of bacteria in the drinking water persists on a high percentage of airline flights. While the EPA first focused on this problem in 2004, the airlines have been working on it far longer, albeit not as successfully as passengers would hope.

Thirty years ago when I was working for USAir, we began a process to bleach the water tanks that hold the water and flush out the system. This was done on a regular basis. Yet, it was clear to anyone working on these tanks and their hoses that a lot of sediment was accumulating in the system, sediment that was akin to pond scum. Even after the tanks were bleached and flushed, some sediment always remained. It’s hard to drink anything made with water from those tanks after seeing what accumulates in there.

According to the NBC report, the EPA does not have any confirmed reports of people getting sick from airplane water. Still, experts consulted by NBC warned that infants and those with compromised immune systems should stay away from airline drinking water.
.................


Yuck.
I never drink the water on board and always bring my own.
Just canned soda from the attendants.

October 17, 2013

"But we do not *strut* ever." WEST WING FLASHBACK

"Leo McGarry: Now, we have laws, and they are difficult and they have to be enforced and it's right that they're enforced. But we do not *strut* ever."

One of my favorite moments in WEST WING ever.
I always thought Leo summed up the "we are here to implement policy and get a job done" attitude the Democratic Party stands for.
There's a lot of strutting and gloating and reveling in victories in 2014 and 2016 on DU right now.
So enjoy your moment, strut if you must but don't count the GOP out.
Every time we think they are down and out they come back like Jason or Freddy Kruger.
Don't take your eye off the ball and GOTV.

October 14, 2013

Have you called or emailed your Congressional Rep, Senators and the White House to help them stand..

strong against the blackmailing tactics of the GOP?
They need to know you are out there.
They need numbers to make them do the right thing and you and everyone you get to email and call are the numbers.
They are meeting at the White House today so let them know you don't want them to give in to the GOP ransom.

Call now.
Here is a link to the contact numbers for, not only your Representative and Senators, but to every Representative and Senator in the U.S.A.: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

White House 202-456-1111
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments

Larry Summers in not the Fed Chair because the President and Party leaders are listening to us when we roar.
Roar now.